Multi-filar (multi-wire) coils and multi-strand cables are mainly used in medical devices and in the automotive industry. One example is an implantable lead, which might be part of a medical device such as a cardiac defibrillator.

Bending analyses to model cables and wire bundles are typically performed to simulate actual physical behaviors at the coil filar or cable strand level. Using solid elements to analyze these types of structures can be computationally expensive because of the characteristic dimensions of the tube and coil sections. On the other hand, beam models with beam-to-beam contact offer fast and accurate solutions with simplified modeling.